Trimming attachment for sewing machines



March 28, 1967 G. w. FARABEE TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 30, 1964 March 28, 1967 e. w. FARABEE 3,311,076

TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed July so, 1964 4 Shets-Sheet 2 LE\LLX \l\ INVENTOR:

GEORGE W. FARABEE A'ITORNEYS March 28, 1967 TRI Filed July 30, 1964 25 A VIIIVIIIHIIIA G. w. FARABEE 3,311,076

MMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 GEORGE W. FAEABE'E:

ATTORNEYS Bywmw,

March 28, 1967 ,w. I -ARABEE 3,311,076

TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed July 50, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

INVENTOR. G E-OTZGE' W. FARABE r:

BYW 49 44/14 ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,311,076 TRIMMING ATTACHMENT FOR SEWING MACHINES George W. Farabee, Mooresville,-N.C., assignor to Cannon Mills Company, a corporation of North Carolina Filed July 30, 1964, Ser. No. 386,259 6 Claims. (Cl. 112-129) This invention relates to a trimming attachment for sewing machines and more particularly to a trimming attachment for trimming the turned under free edgeof material as it passes through a sewing machine for he'mming.

In the hemming of textile materials for use as pillowcases, sheets, draperies, garments or the like, an excess of material is generally left beyond the hem on the turned under free edge. This is especially true when the hem produced by the sewing machine on the material is of a configuration other than a straight line or straight stitch, i.e., scalloped hem, etc. This excess material is objectionable in the finished product in that it may curl or hang down and produce undesirable and unsightly bulges and irregularities in the finished product.

Trimming of this excess material, especially from a scalloped hem, has often been done by hand. Numerous trimming and cutting devices for use with sewing machines have been available and some of these are adapted for trimming a scalloped edge or producing a trim line of a generally scalloped configuration. However, none of these prior devices are adapted to trim the turned under free edge only of folded under material which is to be I hemmed. Therefore, trimming of the excess material from the turned under free edge has to be done manually following the hemming operation.

It is an object of this invention to provide a trimming attachment for a sewing machine for trimming the turned under free edge of material which is to be hemmed.

A further object of this invention is to provide a trimming attachment for trimming the turned under free edge of material in generally a scalloped configuration for cooperation with a sewing machine for producing a scalloped hem in the turned under material.

A more specific object of this invention is to provide a cutter member disposed in the bed plate of the sewing machine having cutter blades and adapted to have one layer of the turned under edge disposed on top of the cutter blades and the free turned under edge disposed between the cutter blades, and a presser or hammer mechanism for contacting the cutter blades through the top layer of material to effect cutting of the turned under edge only.

This invention is directed to the novel trimming attachment in combination with a sewing machine for trimming the turned under free end of turned under material for producing a cut edge of the same configuration as the hem produced by the sewing machine. The cutting mechanism per se is the subject matter of my copending application Ser. No. 386,176, filed on June 30, 1964, now US. Patent No. 3,260,147, issued July 12, 1966, and as may be seen in that application the cutting mechanism may be used alone or with other mechanisms.

Further features of this invention will be understood from the following more detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the sewing machine and the cutter mechanism;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view similar to FIGURE 1 taken from another angle to illustrate connections from the cam mechanism to various components;

FIGURE 3 is a partial perspective view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 omitting parts of the sewing machine and the drive for the cutter mechanism and fanism15 having a cam groove 15a therein.

showing a turned under web of material passing through the cutter mechanism and the stitching instrumentalities of the sewing machine;

FIGURE 4 is a top plan view of the cutter mechanism showing its disposition in the bed plate of the sewing machine;

FIGURE 5 is a view taken substantially along the lines 5-5 of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 6 is a view taken substantially along the lines 6-6 of FIGURE 4 and illustrating how the turned under web of material passes through the cutter blades;

FIGURE 7 is an exploded perspective view of the cutter of this invention;

FIGURE 8 is a front elevational view broken away of the cutter mechanism;

FIGURE 9 is a view taken substantially along the lines 99 of FIGURE 8;

FIGURE 10 is a cross-sectional view of the cutter blades illustrating the angles formed by the cutting surfaces relative to a vertical axis;

FIGURE 11 is a side view of the movable blade, and

FIGURE 12 is a side elevational view of the sewing machine and cutter mechanism illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 and taken from the other side thereof.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown in FIG- URE 1 a conventional scallop embroidery sewing machine, generally referred to by the reference numeral 10. This machine includes the usual stitch forming instrumentalities 11, presser foot 12, feed dogs 13, and bed plate 14. For forming a scalloped line of stitching, the sewing machine 10 is provided with a rotating cam mech- The bed plate 14 is movable and connected to earn mechanism 15 by levers 16 and 28 and cam follower 29 to reciprocate back and forth transversely to the direction of travel of 'a web of material M being fed through the sewing machine as the cam mechanism 15 rotates. The presser foot 12 is slidably mounted in a fixed carriage 38 and is connected to cam mechanism 15 by a lever 17 for like reciprocating movement back and forth in a direction transverse to the direction of travel of the web of material M. This reciprocation of the bed plate 14 and the presser foot 12 of the scallop embroidery machine 10 forms the scalloped configuration of the stitch, as shown in FIGURE 3, inasmuch as the material M being sewn by the machine 10 is also reciprocated back and forth with the presser foot 12 and the bed plate 14 because the material M is held' therebetween during the stitching operation.

The improvement of this invention constitutes a cutting mechanism, in advance of the sewing machine, generally referred to by the reference numeral 18. This cutting mechanism- 18 includes a cutter assembly 19 comprising holder 20 mounted on the stationary frame 21 of the sewing machine in a slot through the bed plate 14. It is noted that the bed plate 14 may reciprocate back and forth relative to the holder 20, while the holder 20 remains stationary. The cutter assembly 19 further includes a fixed blade 22 and a movable blade 23 carried by the holder 20. The holder 20 has threaded apertures 24, 25, 26, 27 and 30 therein. The fixed blade 22 has apertures 31 and 32 therein. The movable blade 23 has elongated apertures 33 and 34 therein.

In the assembled condition of the cutter assembly 19, the fixed blade 22 and the movable blade 23 are secured to the holder 20 by means of short screws 35, 36 and 37. The screw 36 fits through aperture 32 in the fixed blade 22 and into aperture '27 in the holder 20 and the screw member 35 fits through aperture 31 in the fixed blade 22 and into aperture 26 in the holder 20 to secure the fixed blade 22 to the holder 20. In like manner, the screw 37 fits through elongated aperture 34 in the movable blade Patented Mar. 28, 1967 23 and'into aperture-25 in the holder 20 to secure the movable blade 23 in position on the holder 20.

, To secure the cutter assembly 19 to the fixed frame 21 of the machine, elongated screw members 40 and 41 are provided. Elongated screw 40 extends through elongatedaperture 30 in the holder 20 and is secured to the machine frame 21. Elongated screw 41 extends through elongated aperture 33. in the movable blade 23 and through aperture 24 in the holder 20 and is secured to the stationary frame 21 of the machine. The mo'vable blade 23. may be adjusted longitudinally of the holder 20 and toward or away fromthe fixed blade 22 because of the provision of the elongated apertures 33 and 34 in the movable blade 23. This adjustment is accomplished by loosening screw members 37 and 41 so that the mov-.

able blade 23. may be moved toward or away from the fixed blade 22. To further facilitate this adjustment a flange 42 is provided on holder 20. A screw threaded member 43 is threaded through the flange 42 to bear upon the rear end of movable blade 23 such that the screw threaded member 43 may be adjusted toward or away from the fixed blade 22 to allow movement of the movable blade 23 toward and away from the fixed blade 22.

The movable blade 23 is constructed of a resilient mate rial such'that the cutting edge 44 thereof may be moved vertically downward, upon the application of force, to contact the cutting edge 45 of fixed blade 22 to cut the material M as it passes through the cutter mechanism in a manner to be hereinafter described. It is desirable that the cutting edges 44 and 45 of the blades 23 and 22 form I a slight angle with respect to a substantially vertical stantially vertical plane has been found to be between 50 and 110 or preferably about 1. It is also de sirable that the cutting edge 45 be of a generally triangular configuration, as shown in FIGURES 7 and 8, and that the top edge of this surface forms a slight angle with respect to a horizontal plane, as shown in FIGURE 8, so that contact of the movable blade 23 with the fixed blade 22 will begin at the vertex of that angle to ensure a clean cut in the material M. A suitable angle for the cutting edge 45 with respect to a horizontal plane has been found to be between 7 and 9 or preferably about 8. It is also necessary that the top surface of the movable blade 23 forms a slight angle with respect to a horizontal plane, as shown in FIGURES and 11, so that the cutting surface '44 is disposed above the cutting surface 45 for threading and movement of the material M. A suitable angle for the top surface of movable blade 23 with respect to a horizontal plane has been found to be between 1 and 2 or preferably about 112.

To actuate the cutting .blades 22 .and 23 to move or apply force to the movable cutting blade 23 to move the same downwardly into contact with the fixed cutting blade 22, :ahamrner member is provided, generally referred to by the, reference numeral 46. This hammer member 46 comprises a foot or contact portion 47 secured by stud 48 to a block member 49. The block member 49 is secured by stud 50 to a reciprocating shaft 51. It is noted that the foot portion 47 is laterally oifset with respect to the reciprocating shaft 51 as a safety feature to prevent an operator from placing his finger under the foot portion 47. As a further safety feature a shield 52 is provided which is secured to the block portion 49 and to the foot portion 47, as shown in FIGURES 1, 3 and 8.

The reciprocating shaft 51 passes through an aperture in a bearing block 53 which is secured to the sewing ma- 7 plate 6-2, a presser foot 63 is provided.

chine. The shaft 51 is maintained in a non-rotating condition in the bearing black 53 by a shanked screw threaded member 58 carried by the block 53, as shown in FIGURE 9. The shank end of the member 58 extends into a narrow elongated slot 59 in the shaft 51 to allow the shaft 51 to move up and down in a reciprocating movement but which will prevent the shaft 51 from rotary movement.

To reciprocate the shaft 51 up and down to bring the foot portion 47 in contact with the movable blade 23 to eifect the above described cutting action, a rotating shaft 54 is provided. The rotating shaft 54 is retained in bearing blocks 55 and 56 which are secured tothe sewing machine 10 and the rotating shaft 54 receives its rotating movement from a belt and pulley arrangement, generally referred to as 57, from the main drive shaft of the sewing machine, as may be seen in FIGURE 1. On the forward end of shaft 54 a cam 60 is eccentrically mounted on the face of the shaft 54, as may be seen in FIGURES 1 and 8. This cam'60 fits into a slot 61 provided in the upper end of recirpocating shaft 51 to thereby reciprocate shaft 51 up and down as shaft 54 is rotated, in a manner well knwn to those with ordinary skill in the art. In operation, the rotation of shaft 54 and the reciprocation of shaft 51 are timed by belt and pulley 57 to provide intermittent strokes of the hammer mechanism 46 on the movable blade 23 to effect cutting of the material M as it is fed through the machine in a manner to be hereinafter described.

To obtain the desired transverse movement of the material M as it passes through the cutter mechanism to obtain a scalloped cut of the same configuration as is sewn by the scallop hemming machine, a secondary bed plate 62 is provided. This secondary bed plate 62, as may be seen in FIGURE 1, is secured to the bed plate 14 of the machine and overlies the end portions of the cutter assembly 19. For cooperation with this secondary bed The presser foot 63 is carried by a bifurcated arm 64 which is attached to lever 17 from the cam mechanism 15. The presser foot 63 is spring biased by coil spring 65 into contact with the bed plate 62 to press the material M therebetween as it passes through the cutter mechanism of this invention. It is noted that since the secondary bed plate 62 is secured to the movable bed plate 14 and since the pressure foot 63 is connected to the lever 17, that this bed plate 62 and presser foot 63 will move transversely of the direction of travel of the material by the action of cam 15 as the bed 14 and presser foot 12 move in like manner.

During the cutting and hemming operation, a web of material M is fed to the cutting and hemming mechanisms. This material M is folded back upon itself to form a double layer of material with the free edge of material turned under, as shown in FIGURES 3 and 6. This turning under operation may be done manually by an operator or with well known edge turning apparatus (not shown). The material in this turned under condition is led under the presser foot 63 and is threaded through the cutter mechanism such that the free edge of material is disposed under the movable blade 23, as may be seen in FIGURE 6', and the top layer of material overlies both the movable blade 23 and the fixed blade 22. The material is then led through the conventional stitching mechanisms 11 and under the presser foot 12. The material M is pulled through these mechanisms by feed dogs 13 in a manner well understood by those with ordinary skill in the art. The cutting of this turned under free edge of material is effected by the reciprocation of hammer mechanism 46, in the manner described above, which contacts the upper layer of material M to press the upper layer of material down against movable blade 23 to thus cause movable blade 23 to come incon-tact with fixed blade 22 to effect trimming of the turned under free edge which is disposed under the movable blade 23. The

scalloped configuration of the cut, illustrated in dotted lines in FIGURE 3, is obtained by cam mechanism acting on levers 16 and 17 to laterally reciprocate bed plate 14, supplementary bed plate 62, presser foot 12 and presser foot 63 to transversely move the material M with respect to the cutting assembly and with respect to the stitching instrumentalities.

It may thus :be seen that a trimming or cutting attachment is provided in advance of and for use with a sewing machine which will trim the turned under edge only of the material in generally the same configuration as the hem formed by the sewing machine, thus eliminating the necessity for manual trimming following hemming.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a sewing machine having a stationary frame, stitch forming instrumentalities, a laterally movable bed plate, a laterally movable presser foot, and a cam mechanism attached to the presser foot and the bed plate for laterally moving the presser foot and bed plate relative to the stitch forming instrumentalities; the improvement of a cutting attachment comprising a cutter member secured to the stationary frame and including a holder member, a generally vertically movable blade secured for said holder and to the machine frame, a stationary blade secured to the holder and associated with said generally vertically movable blade and adapted to cooperate with said movable blade to effect cutting of material as it passes between said blades, a reciprocating hammer member associated with said cutter member and adapted to contact said generally vertically movable blade to effect moving of said movable blade for cutting action between said movable blade and said fixed blade, said hammer member comprising a rotating shaft associated with said sewing machine, a cam eccentrically carried by one end of said shaft, a reciprocating shaft having a slot formed therein cooperating with said cam to effect reciprocating movement of said reciprocating shaft, a foot portion carried by said reciprocating shaft and adapted to contact said movable blade to effect cutting action between said movable blade and said fixed blade, means for effecting lateral movement of the material with respect to said cutter member and said hammer member when it is passing through said cutting attachment comprising a secondary bed plate secured to said sewing machine bed plate and adapted to move therewith and a secondary presser foot attached to said cam mechanism and adapted to move in synchronization with said secondary bed plate to carry the material passing therebetween in a lateral movement with respect to said cutter member.

2. In a sewing machine having a stationary frame, stitch forming instrumentalities, a laterally movable bed plate, a laterally movable presser foot, and a cam mechanism attached to the presser foot and the bed plate for laterally moving the presser foot and the bed plate relative to the stitch forming instrumentalities; the improvement of a cutting attachment comprising a cutter memlber secured to the stationary frame, a recirpocating hammer member associated with said cutter member and adapted to actuate said cutter member, and means associated with said cutter member for effecting lateral movement of the material with respect to said cutter member and said hammer member when it is passing through said cutting attachment.

3. In a sewing machine according to claim 2, in which said cutter member comprises a holder member, a generally vertically movable blade secured to said holder member and to said frame, and a stationary blade secured to said holder member and associated with said generally vertically movable blade and adapted to cooperate with said movable blade to effect cutting of the material as it passes between said blades.

4. In a sewing machine according to claim 2, in which said reciprocating hammer member comprises a rotating shaft associated with said sewing machine, a cam eccentrically carried on one end of said shaft, a reciprocating shaft having a slot formed therein cooperating with said cam to effect reciprocating movement of said reciprocating shaft, and a foot portion carried by said reciprocating shaft and adapted to contact said cutter member to effect cutting action of said cutter member.

5. In a sewing machine according to claim 2, in which said means for effecting lateral movement of the material with respect to said cutter member and said hammer comprises a secondary bed plate secured to said sewing machine bed plate and adapted to move therewith and a secondary presser foot attached to said cam mechanism and adapted to move in synchronization with said secondary bed plate to carry the material passing therebetween in a lateral movement with respect to said cutter member.

6. In a sewing machine having a stationary frame and stitch forming instrumentalities for producing a scalloped hem in a turned-under edge of material; the improvement of a cutting attachment for cutting the turnedunder free edge of material in substantially a scalloped configuration comprising a cutter member secured to said frame of said sewing machine including a first sub stantially horizontally extending resilient cutter blade having one end thereof mounted stationary on said frame and having a cutting surface on the other free end thereof which is normally spaced from said frame so that the turned-under edge of the turned-under material will pass through the space defined by said cutting surface and said frame, a second substantially horizontally extending cutter blade mounted stationary on said frame and having a cutting surface on one end thereof normally spaced below the cutting surface on said first cutter blade and disposed in mating relationship thereto, a reciprocating hammer member associated with said first resilient cutter blade and adapted to intermittently apply a downward force thereto to intermittently move the cutting surface of said first cutter blade into engagement with the cutting surface of said second cutter blade to effect cutting of the material, and means for laterally reciprocating the material being cut with respect to said cutter member and said hammer member to obtain a scalloped trim.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,592,498 7/ 1926 Mistretta 11Z127 2,432,545 12/1947 Sigoda 112--127 2,642,020 6 1953 Breul 112-127 2,666,650 1/1954 Lepow 112-10 2 2,917,013 12/1959 Burgert 112-127 3,260,147 7/ 1966 Farabee 112--129 X JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner.

PARTRICK D. LAWSON, G. H. KRIZMANICH,

Assistant Examiners. 

2. IN A SEWING MACHINE HAVING A STATIONARY FRAME, STITCH FORMING INSTRUMENTALITIES, A LATERALLY MOVABLE BED PLATE, A LATERALLY MOVABLE PRESSER FOOT, AND A CAM MECHANISM ATTACHED TO THE PRESSER FOOT AND THE BED PLATE FOR LATERALLY MOVING THE PRESSER FOOT AND THE BED PLATE FOR LATERTO THE STITCH FORMING INSTRUMENTALITIES; THE IMPROVEMENT OF A CUTTING ATTACHMENT COMPRISING A CUTTER MEMBER SECURED TO THE STATIONARY FRAME, A RECIRPOCATING HAMMER MEMBER ASSOCIATED WITH SAID CUTTER MEMBER AND ADAPTED TO ACUATE SAID CUTTER MEMBER, AND MEANS ASSOCIATEDD WITH SAID CUTTER MEMBER FOR EFFECTING LATERAL MOVEMENT OF THE MATERIAL WITH RESPECT TO SAID CUTTER MEMBER AND SAID HAMMER MEMBER WHEN IT IS PASSING THROUGH SAID CUTTING ATTACHMENT. 